Leak diverters and containers, such as garbage cans and buckets, placed below falling fluids are known and have been used by the construction and building maintenance industries for many years to catch and divert water and to mitigate damage and safety concerns caused by falling fluids. Examples of employed leak diverter designs include: hanging leak diversion devices, tile replacement leak diversion devices and frame-designed above the ceiling leak diversion devices
Fluids may include, for example: rainfall, which may pool, causing structural concerns, or seep through damaged roofs; fluids falling from equipment installed in the floor or roof above; or fluids falling from the varied mechanicals installed in the functional hidden space due to, for example: condensation, faulty plumbing or sprinkler systems. Falling fluids may build up within the occupied building space, functional hidden space, walls, roofs and/or other areas and may cause mold, mildew, or other biological growth and/or may cause damage to ceiling tiles, walls, structures and surfaces. Moreover, falling fluids entering the occupied space of the building may cause occupational safety hazards and may cause extensive damage to valuables such as: carpets, furniture, office documents, warehouse storage, and shelved products. Furthermore, the weight of falling fluid pooling on surfaces (e.g. roofs and floors) may compromise the structural integrity of the surface.
There are a number of ceiling installation techniques such as suspended grid ceilings that create a functional hidden space between the underside of the floor above and the structural ceiling. This functional hidden space is often utilized for the installation of mechanicals such as: heating and air condition ducts, sprinkler systems, electrical and communication wiring, gas, plumbing and other pipes, and fire and smoke detectors.
Prior art hanging leak diversion devices, such as shown in FIG. 1, position the leak diverter 100 below the ceiling tile and within the occupied space. A disadvantage of these types of devices is that they require installation to the ceiling and thusly may not be flexibly positioned below the leak, may functionally impact other ceiling installations such as lighting fixtures and may impact on the aesthetics of the occupied space when aesthetics are of concern. Additionally, these devices can not be flexibly positioned above or below the ceiling.
Prior art ceiling tile replacement leak diversion devices, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,591 and 6,622,750, are designed to replace the ceiling tile within the suspended grid with a custom fitted leak diverter. Though effective at diverting the water and avoiding damage to replaced ceiling tiles, these devices do not usually have the same appearance of the replaced ceiling tile and typically comprise visible hoses which impact the aesthetics of the occupied space. Additionally, these devices can not be flexibly positioned above or below the ceiling as they must be designed to fit within the replaced ceiling tile grid and they create a storage problem for storing the replaced grids.
Prior art leak diversion devices located above the suspended ceiling, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,357, are frame designs that are made of solid pre-formed trays that are supported by rigid legs which stand upon the ceiling tiles or support grids. A disadvantage of these devices is that the rigid structure of a frame design creates pressure points on the tile ceiling upon the resting points of the frame structure and are difficult to maneuver through the grid structure and into the functional hidden space and difficult to position about the ceiling tiles (especially when positioning two adjacent leak diverters). Moreover, these devices can not be flexibly positioned above or below the ceiling, are costly, cumbersome to assemble and may take up more storage space when not in use.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved leak diverter.